SIGNS OF PAIN

Almost three weeks have past since the cleft operation and he is doing so well.

His smile is like a bright sunbeam.... broad again, rather than being pursed from the stitches and such a happy little bunny.

He's off most medications now, but you can still see the dissolvable stitches in his mouth.
He's feeding and sleeping more; in fact last night he did a seven and a half hour stint between his feeds!

He was unsettled in the early morning today and has been of late, so I think he may still have some pain in the early hours of day.
He cries and waves his little arms and legs about wildly; rather than those rhythmic colicy jerks. He only does tiny burps nowdays and doesn't seem to need much winding at all. Everything else seems fine, so the only thing I can think of is pain.

Another thing he does to make me think it is pain; is when I cradle him to try to help him to sleep (which he clearly shows he wants to do and something I don't do with a baby unless unwell), he buries his head under my arm and against my body with his cheek pushing against me.
As he has no control over his arm movements yet, I think this is like an older person holding an area that they have hurt.
e.g. When we hurt ourselves, we rub the area and this in turn sends a signal to the brain to concentrate on healing that spot and maybe increase the blood supply if necessary.

I have suggested some Calpol at this feed time, so he can sleep easier afterwards, although I did not give it last night, as I would always seek the parents approval before applying any medication not in the routine.

All in all, he looks wonderful and has a delightful little spirit and is as loved as any baby could be.

FLAT HEADS, TREATMENT and PILLOWS

During the birth procedure (whether naturally or by C-section), often babies have neck problems which are not always evident.
Mostly, they show up with digestive problems, as the Atlas bone (which can affect the flight and fright and digestive system) may have been moved out of position as they cork screw out, sometimes causing colic.

Baby may also have a propensity to turn the head in one direction when lying down, which may cause that side of the head to become flattened. Or if they lay flat on their back, they may get a flat-spot at the back of the head.
I have had babies with hardly any neck at all showing and in extreme cases, they may show signs of pain when moving the arms or shoulders and sometimes get sores in the folds of skin in the neck.

When I think there may be a problem, I suggest to mum that they might like to visit a baby cranial Osteopath or Chiropractor; but please note that they must be trained in this area.
To be safe, I recommend they go to an excellent centre: the Osteopathic Centre for Children in Bloomsbury, London.
This is a Charitable organisation run by the Foundation for Osteopathy and you are asked for a donation for the visit, which a present is approx £30 and well worth the money.

The Centre has highly train professions and also Osteopaths who are learning cranial work, so you see more than one person.
The excellent treatment looks as though they are doing nothing and it is gentle and does not pain the baby at all.

Even if you think there are no problems, it is always nice to have your baby checked out by someone who is looking for things that the normal midwife or doctor do not seem to notice.

Since the "Back to Sleep" campaign (which makes us sleep babies on their backs), there has been an increase of flattened heads and at the Centre they recommend the Lilla Kuddis pillow to prevent Flat Head Syndrome.
Babies heads do not harden until 12-18 months.

Normally I would never recommend a pillow for any babies; but this is safe and baby lies with both his head and shoulders on it.
The pillow has been developed in Sweden by Midwives and Physiotherapists and had has good results.

The only thing I am not happy with, is that the filling is not made of natural fibre (which in my opinion may make the baby sweat), although the cover is 100% cotton.

FEEDING WELL & GAINING WEIGHT

Things change so quickly with these little people.
Last night "my little boy" drank almost double what he's been drinking since his operation; taking nearly 7oz or 200mls. Then went straight back to sleep for nearly 5 hours.

The next feed he seemed uncomfortable again, so I gave him 2½ mls of paracetamol, which settled him. It seems to work within 15 minutes.

He scar has healed beautifully, but you can still see the dissolvable ones inside his mouth.
His recovery his astounded me, but his cells are regenerating so fast at 3 months, I suppose it's not so surprising.

He went back to his Paediatrician today and has gained weight again (past his preoperative weight) showing he is definitely on the mend, bless him!

PAIN ONGOING

The hospital thought that "my baby" would only need pain killers for one week.
Mum has seen an European website for Cleft babies in which some parents write about their baby crying for 3 weeks or more.

The last 48 hours (over the post operative week), he has shown signs of being in pain and quite unsettled, crying and waving his arms about in distress.

Although he is feeding more, my view is that he is in distress and needs help through the pain.
After all, he has a huge amount of work done to his hard palate, let alone his lip.

Last week I had excruciating tooth ache and root canal work and still have a residue of pain; so it is not surprising that my poor little boy must be feeling it so much worse. He really is a Brave Little Soldier and loved so much.

So, he is back on Ibuprofen at 8 hour intervals (3x per day) and Paracetamol at 6 hour intervals (4x per day).

Now, if you Google Phenergan (which I used to give to my children when necessary) you get loads of advice now as why not to use it. But as it was provided specifically for the baby by Great Ormond Street Hospital, I feel no reason why he should not have it.
However never use Phenergan without it being prescribed, as it has had some adverse reactions.

Lets hope that being back on pain killers helps his discomfort. I see no reason why he should suffer, and that isn't in silence!

SLEEPING WITH A PUPPY!

I'm working with the sweetest little girl at the moment, who was born a month prematurely.

She is one of the noisiest little sleepers that I have had to share a room with!!

Luckily, I have been around the houses enough (so to speak and literally), to know which noises I need to get out of bed for and which are just her.

So like the babes, I need to have a nap when I get home, otherwise I'd be good for nothing the next night. Advice I tell all new mums:
You need a sleep at least once a day whilst the night feeds are ongoing.

You just have to make the time to rest or you will not be on top form and especially if you are breast feeding, otherwise the milk may diminish.

DADDY TIME

Well goodness, like-minded people with websites and blogs are coming thick and fast.

Had another Twitter follower again yesterday and another informative site giving advice to breast feeding mums, offering classes and help.

Of course, I give breastfeeding advice too and some of my jobs just focus around that; but I also feel I should give free advice to those who need it.
Last year, I flew to Doha in Qatar for a week to help with a breastfeeding problem. Lovely family and we still keep in touch and I love to see their photos on Facebook.

On the breastfeeding consultants blog, she wrote about fathers being given more paternity leave, so I replied with one of my tips for dads who needed to get to work, saying this:-

"I find many fathers who would love to have more time with their new baby, but working pressures do not allow for it.

What I do in these circumstances, is to try and find a regular time when dad can get home and then teach him to bath his baby before bed.

This has two great achievements:-
One, dad has one to one quality time with his child and his baby gets to know that this is their special time of day; and
Two, this gives mum some time to do something else.

The fathers who do this, arrive home from work with a smile on their faces, looking forward to that special time that awaits them."

The original blog I replied to was:- http://www.letsbreastfeed.com/blog/

SLEEP TIMES

Had a lovely day at my daughter's wedding yesterday and there were 3 little children there.

My 2 year old grandson behaved beautifully and took his nap on the sofa after lunch, with everyone around him!
Another 5 month old had her nap in her pram as well.

This just goes to show that if children have a routine and are comfortable with their surroundings, they will follow their routine almost wherever they are.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Well it's New Year's Eve and I'm into my second Blog.

As I have always said, "If you want something done, ask a busy person". So true to form I will try to write everyday!

Tonight I am off to look after a dear little boy who is now 9 months old.

He sometimes wakes around 3am and I find he will go to sleep if left to settle himself. After all, I wouldn't want to rouse him further if he is not fully awake.

However, if I hear he is standing up and clearly needs to know someone is there, of course I will go in to help him settle.

He will not need a drink, just reassurance and maybe a cuddle, then he is fine.

So I wish everyone a good New Year's Eve and a very happy New Year.

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